Valentine's Day in Full Effect at Detroit Zoo as Animals Are Given Heart-Shaped Treats

The Detroit Zoo has gotten into the Valentine's Day spirit a little early as its animals are bestowed with various heart-shaped treats.

Zookeepers at the facility handed out the special gifts Wednesday as part of the zoo's Heart Fest event. The public was invited to watch as the creatures opened their presents.

Wolves, polar bears and camels were among the creatures given heart-shaped piñatas which, when opened, featured a frozen version of their favorite snack.

Penguins received special rocks that were painted by guests. When a male penguin finds a mate, he embarks on a search for a suitable stone to give his partner as a gift, hence the painted rocks. If the female accepts the "pebble proposal," the rock becomes one of many used to build their nest, according to the zoo.

“They're all getting a variety of different themed things. Some of them are getting what we called 'ice treats,' which is when we take some of their diet and we freeze into ice and it kind of makes a Popsicle. And it's fun for them to tear at and tear apart and play with or swim with in the water. And we've also made them look like hearts and have a Valentine's theme with it,” Elizabeth Arbaugh, the zoo's curator of mammals, told APTN.

She added that some of the animals just get scents and smells as a treat because they simply enjoy rolling around with the fragrance.

Arbaugh said that the zoo provides an equal amount of treats to all of the animals so that “the most dominant animal to the least dominant animal, they all get a chance to enjoy and get the appropriate treats."